Bottle capper



Nov. 22, 1949 c. R. HITCHCOCK BOTTLE. CAPPER Filed Dec. 1 1945 IN V5 N TOR C/l-R ISTOPHER' RODNEY-HI TCHCOCM ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 22, 1949 UNITED STATES PAT ENrY oFHcE Christopher Rodney Hitchcock, North Vance liver,

British Columbia, Canada Application December 1, 1945, Serial No. 632,143 3 Claims. (Cl. 22684) My invention relates to improvements in bottle cappers. The objects of the invention are to provide a hand operated bottle capper in which the leverage between the handle and the cap holder is so compounded that very easy operation is obtained; to provide a simple means of construction which enables the capper to be easily adjusted for varying heights of bottles, and also to provide means for securing a cap in the cap holder which will retain said cap in position until it is affixed to the bottle. A still further object is to provide means for locating the cap holder directly above the bottle position when the operating handle is raised to the required height.

Fig. l is a perspective View of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail view showing the method of pivotally mounting the fork to the bottle capper standards.

Fig. 3 is a side View, part in section, of the cap and holder.

Fig. 4 is a rear view of said holder.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

The numeral l indicates a base which is preferably fitted with a circular rubber pad 2 for receiving a bottle to be capped. Extending upwardly from the base and on opposite sides of the pad 2 is a pair of standards 3 each having a plurality of slots 4 extending inwardly from one of its edges. Each slot terminates in a circular opening 5.

A fork 1 consisting of prongs 8 and a handle 9, all of which are preferably made from a piece of strap material, is provided adjacent the free ends of the prongs 8 with pivot pins l 53 which are adapted to be journalled in any pair of the slots 4. The pivot pins may be in the form of a shouldered rivet with part of the shank H, see Figure 2, cut away as at l2 so that the shank I! when turned to the position shown in dotted line may pass out from its circular opening 5 through the entrance of the slot and the fork be fulcrumed in any other pair of slots desired. The pivot pins may be economically stamped out from the material forming the prongs 8 if desired to provide a member capable of being removed from the slots in the manner above described.

Pivotally mounted on pins i3 which pass through the prongs 8 is a bale M to which a cap holder or socket I5 is secured. The socket is preferably stamped with a lug 56 extending downwardly from its periphery, see Figs. 1, 3 and 4, which lug is inwardly bent as at l! to engage the flared rim of an unused bottle cap 2 13 when inserted into the socket 55. An inverted U-shaped spring 213 is held between the socket l5 and the bale M. The free ends of said spring are bent as at 2! to form clips for releasably supporting a bottle cap 58 by its lower edge when inserted into the socket It.

In order to substantially align the bottle cap and socket 15 with the top of the bottle when about to cap said bottle, a Ushaped spring 23 is connected at its free ends to one or both prongs 8 of the fork I and to the lower portions of the bale M, the point of connection of said spring being above and in substantially vertical alignment with the pivot pins 13 of the fork.

In use, the device is adjusted to the height of the bottle to be capped by inserting the pivot pins l0 into the appropriate slots 4 of the standards 3. A bottle cap I8 is pressed into the socket l5 and is retained in position by the lug it and the spring clips 2|. A bottle is then placed on the pad 2 below the bale l4 and the handle 9 is depressed, guiding, if necessary, the socket 55 onto the neck of the bottle. The depression of the handle forcing the socket downwardly will close the crlmped edge of the cap onto the bottle neck and will release said edge from engagement with the clips 2!, so that on raising the handle subsequent to closure there will be no tendency to lift the bottle. During the depression of the handle with the cap on the bottle the spring 23 will be flexed as the angle between a prong 8 and the bale I4 increases but when the socket is free from the bottle the bale will assume a position relative to the fork 1 approximating an angle of ninety degrees.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A bottle capper comprising a base, a pair of standards spaced apart, a fork having a handle, the free ends of said fork being pivotally connected to said standard and a bale having a capping socket pivotally connected to the fork adjacent its free ends, said bale extending upwardly above the handle and said socket being disposed at the apex of the bale.

2. A bottle capper comprising a base, a pair of standards spaced apart, a fork having a handle, the free ends of said fork being pivotally connected to said standards and a bale extending upwardly above the fork, said bale having a capping socket at its upper end, and resilient means for maintaining the bale at substantially right angles to the longitudinal axis of the fork.

3. In a bottle capper having a pair of standands, a handled fork pivotally connected to said standards and means operated by the swinging 4 movement of the handle for closing a cap onto a bottle, the standards having a plurality of sub- REFERENCES CITED stantially horizontal slots with parallel sides ex- The lowing references are of record in the tending inwardly from an edge of each standard fi o of s Potent and each slot terminating in a circular opening 5 TED of greater diameter than the width of the hori- Um STATES PATENTS zontal slots, the pivot connection on each fork Number N t h vi g qnpqs dflattened sidesoandqopposed arcu- 7 752,28 oa ael "Feb- 23, 1904 ate sides,-the width or the piyotxonnection be 35L5 iBqPL ---'----A, 2 tween flattened portions being such as to pass 10 1 3 Bradley 1929 through the parallel sides of a slot and the p01- Y tion between arcuate sides being such as to rockingly fit the circular portion of the slot.

CHRISTOPHER NEY HITCHCOCK. 

